Cancer Currents for February 2010

News and Notes from the Director

Norris Cotton Cancer Center: 2009 in Review

At the turn of the year, I am happy to share with you outstanding news of your Cancer Center, which is thriving despite the economic downturn. Building upon the successful five-year renewal of our designation as a National Cancer Institute Comprehensive Cancer Center, we have brought renewed focus to our expansion into the region and continued to build on key areas of Dartmouth science. None of these successes would be possible without the extremely high caliber of our clinicians, scientists, staff, and leadership who contribute their energy, imagination, and expertise. Read more.

Evelyn Schlosser, New Director of Quality and Patient Safety

We are very pleased to welcome Evelyn Schlosser, MPH, RN, as Norris Cotton Cancer Center's Director of Quality and Patient Safety. This new position at the Cancer Center will work closely with Dartmouth-Hitchcock's Office of Quality and Patient Safety to provide overall leadership and direction for the development and implementation of the Cancer Center's Quality Management Plan.

One of Evelyn's main areas of focus will be to work closely with clinical and administrative staff to develop a systematic, center-wide approach to implementing evidence-based practices, reducing non-value added variation, and measuring outcomes. She will also be responsible for creating and leading initiatives designed to meet the Cancer Center's goal of continuously improving the quality and safety of care we provide.

Evelyn joins us from the New England Alliance for Health (formally the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Alliance), where she has worked as the Manager of Quality Improvement, leading and facilitating clinical quality improvement and patient safety efforts across twelve healthcare organizations in our region. Prior to that, Evelyn served as a Clinical Quality Associate at DHMC. Evelyn received her Master of Public Health from the Center for the Evaluative Clinical Sciences (The Dartmouth Institute).

Stefan Balan, MD, Joins Norris Cotton Cancer Center Manchester

It is our great pleasure to announce that Stefan Balan, MD, has accepted the position of Clinical Director of Hematology/Oncology at Norris Cotton Cancer Center Manchester. He joins Eric Bonnem, MD, Joshua Rifkind, MD, and Louise Meyer, APRN, and will begin his new position in early March. His clinical interest is in gastrointestinal oncology, particularly colorectal cancer.

Dr. Balan previously served as Chief of Hematology/Oncology at the White River Junction Veterans Affairs Medical Center in White River Junction, VT. He attended internal medicine residency programs in Bucharest, Romania and New York University Veterans Affairs Medical Center, followed by a Hematology/Oncology Fellowship program at New York University. Since he joined DHMC, he has been an active educator in the Hematology/Oncology Fellowship Program, as well as a participant in the Hematology Course for third-year medical students, and an active member of the GI Tumor Board Group. In 2007 and 2009, he was nominated for the "Teacher of the Year" award through Dartmouth Medical School.

David Johnstone, MD, New Medical Director of Comprehensive Thoracic Oncology Program

It is a pleasure to announce the appointment of David W. Johnstone, MD, as Medical Director of the Comprehensive Thoracic Oncology Program (CTOP) at Norris Cotton Cancer Center. Dr. Johnstone succeeds James R. Rigas, MD, who ably led the CTOP program for more than a decade and was recently appointed Director of the Cancer Center's Office of Clinical Research.

Dr. Johnstone came to DHMC in 2004 as the only Fellowship-trained surgical thoracic oncologist in New Hampshire and Vermont, and was appointed Chief of the Division of Thoracic Surgery in 2007. An accomplished thoracic surgeon, he specializes in minimally invasive surgical treatment of lung cancer and esophageal cancer. He completed two residencies at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York in General Surgery, and his Fellowship at Cornell University Medical Center/Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in Cardiothoracic Surgery.

We are pleased to welcome Roshani R. Patel, MD, to Norris Cotton Cancer Center Manchester. She is currently the only Fellowship-trained Breast Cancer surgeon working in Manchester. Her research interests include angiogenesis and breast cancer, the causes of breast cancer across different age and ethnic demographics, and improving screening and education regarding early detection. Dr. Patel completed a Surgical Breast Cancer Fellowship at Fox Chase Cancer Center in 2009, a Surgical Oncology Research Fellowship at Temple University in 2008, and her residency at Morristown Memorial Hospital in Morristown, New Jersey.

ACS Area of Special Interest: "The Role of Healthcare and Insurance in Improving Outcomes in Cancer Prevention, Early Detection, and Treatment." Applications are accepted until April 1, 2010. Application and more information.

January 30: Latchkey Stock Car Race on Ice

Join the Friends of Norris Cotton Cancer Center and the Lakes Region Ice Racing Club at Berry Pond in Moultonborough, NH on January 30 from 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. for the Latchkey Stock Car Race on Ice. Suggested donation of $15 per carload. Please check the Racing Club's website for event confirmation prior to the event. More information.

Employees and their families are invited to attend the Dartmouth College "Pink at the Rink" and "Pink Zone" cancer awareness games for free (while supplies last) as a small thank you for your help in keeping our community healthy! Tickets to both games must be reserved by calling (603) 646-1486.

Save the Dates: "Role of PET-CT in Cancer Management" Symposium on March 5-7, 2010

This symposium will identify the most appropriate oncologic indications for PET-CT, describe common challenges in interpreting PET-CT scans, discuss the latest developments in using PET-CT for guiding cancer management, discuss how PET-CT is used for radiation therapy planning, and give examples of how PET-CT is used for staging, restaging, and monitoring therapy of patients with cancer.